Emma Kervel

Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Villada, Diego

Area of Concentration

Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

Abstract

This thesis documents the creative process & performances of a devised theater experiment titled Happy Birthday, Valerie Solanas! Performed at New College of Florida in March of 2018, the piece took shape over the course of two months of research and table work, documented in the first chapter of this thesis, and two subsequent months of improvisational experimentation, development, and rehearsal by the creative ensemble. Through my documentation of our process, I trace our transition from an initial goal of devising politically charged performance material adapted from Euripides' The Bacchae through a period of background research and exploration of other Bacchae adaptations' archives, on to our discovery of and fascination with Valerie Solanas, her SCUM Manifesto, and her shooting of Andy Warhol in 1968, which thereafter became the central element our performance aesthetic. The second chapter consists of a performance archive including our script, photo gallery, publicity and pre-show literature. The final chapter provides my individual reflections on production, process, and practical implications in my personal and professional lives. The concluding analysis points to the centrality of memory and forgetting to both the aesthetic of the performance and the subsequent documentation in this final reflection.

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